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Tourism in America before World War II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2004

THOMAS WEISS
THOMAS WEISS
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045; and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research. E-mail: t-weiss@ku.edu
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Abstract

This article surveys the history of tourism in America from colonial times to World War II. In that time there were substantial increases in the numbers of tourists, in the extent to which middle-income classes participated, and in the number and type of tourist destinations; but most of that growth may have been confined to the period after World War I. The growth of income and reduced costs of travel no doubt explain most of the growth, but some cultural factors helped to shift out the demand curve. The industry also possesses characteristics that should make further study of interest to economic historians. “I am moved to confess that day by day the mass of my memories of the excursion have grown more and more pleasant as the disagreeable incidents of travel which encumbered them flitted one by one out of my mind.”Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, p. 488.Mark Twain

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , June 2004 , pp. 289 - 327
Copyright
© 2004 The Economic History Association

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